Your thoughts often lie to you.
Your emotions sometimes lie to you.
Your body doesn't lie to you.
When “Focusing,” we invite ourselves into a particular kind of awareness. Ordinarily, we spend a great deal of our time with our attention on tasks or issues. Often we ignore or even try to silence our inner, bodily-felt experiencing of all that is happening in our lives. In contrast, the "Focusing attitude" is an invitation we offer ourselves to be open and centered on the whole of what is happening in the present -- most especially the usually ignored body’s inner sensations. When doing Focusing, you silently ask, “How is the whole of me experiencing all of this?”
Experiencing a "Felt Sense"
As you wait attentively, something forms inside you that is vague, indefinite, difficult to put into a words. As you try to describe this sensation, maybe a sentence comes, or an image, maybe a word or two. These words or images somehow seem to represent this sensation, even if they seem illogical. It might then become clear that your vague sensations have something to do with specific situations or experiences in your life. For instance, inner sensations of “I feel heavy,” or “It’s like an empty cave inside” might be related to a depressing situation you're facing. An exciting opportunity, on the other hand, might bring up words or images such as, "My whole being feels like it is expanding, getting larger," or, "I feel like a jaguar inside, ready to sprint." Such seemingly opposite sensations can even be present at the very same time.
This vague, not-yet-fully-articulated experiencing is called a “felt sense.” It is more than simply a "gut feeling" or an "intuition," and it is more than thoughts or feelings. The "felt sense" is, rather, the sense of the whole of a situation.
What a "felt sense" means.
A felt sense is an internal aura that encompasses everything you feel and know about the given subject at a given time–encompasses it and communicates it to you all at once rather than detail by detail.
How to distinguish a "felt sense" from thoughts and emotions.
Non-judgmental listening to yourself
The "felt sense" is body based. It is beyond thought or emotion. It's a physical sensation that carries meaning beyond just thoughts and emotions. It represents the whole of a situation rather than isolated parts like thoughts and emotions.
Focusing helps you listen to yourself by teaching you how to tune into your inner, bodily felt experience—not just your thoughts or emotions, but the subtle signals your body gives you about what truly matters, what feels right or wrong, and what’s unresolved.
How to create a safe space for your partner
Focusing can help you create a safe emotional space for your partner by first cultivating one within yourself—and then extending that same inner attitude outward. The more you’re attuned to your own felt experience with compassion and curiosity, the better you can hold space for your partner in a way that feels nonjudgmental, grounded, and emotionally safe.
How to apply the "felt sense" to problem-solving
How to create an environment that promotes positive change
Sometimes the problem you think you have isn’t the actual root issue. A felt sense gives you access to the whole-body wisdom of the situation, helping you discover what's really bothering you. Because it’s grounded in your inner experience, a felt sense can steer you toward solutions that truly resonate with your values and needs—not just what seems "rational" on the surface.
Focusing creates an environment for positive change by establishing a space of inner safety, self-trust, and deep listening—the conditions under which real transformation can naturally emerge. It doesn’t force change from the outside; it allows change to arise organically from within, guided by the body's own sense of what wants to shift.
I'm interested in learning Focusing. Sign me up!
